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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES NO 094-19RESOLUTION NO. 0 94- 19 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAKERSFIELD TO URGE CALTRANS TO BETTER MAINTAIN THE LANDSCAPING AND REMOVE ALL FIRE HAZARDS CREATED BY SUCH LANDSCAPING ALONG THE FREEWAY CORRIDORS WITHIN THE CITY, WHICH INCLUDE SR 58, SR 99, AND SR 178. WHEREAS, on June 24, 2019, several Bakersfield Firefighters fought a 20 -acre brush and grass fires along the side of State Route 99 (SR 99), which spread to the local CarMax car lot located at the 9800 block of Colony Street in Bakersfield, CA.; and WHEREAS, if is estimated that the fire caused $2.1 million in damage to the CarMax parking lot, including 26 cars completely damaged and 60 cars partially damaged; and WHEREAS, the City expended approximately $2,949.20 in resources to fight the fire, which included 10 Bakersfield Fire Department (BFD) emergency units and 26 BFD personnel, leaving numerous areas of the City to be without coverage as set forth in the memorandum attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein as Exhibit A; and WHEREAS, Bakersfield Councilmember Chris Parlier (Ward 7), whose ward includes the CarMax lot and surrounding area where the brush and fire occurred, has received multiple complaints from the nearby auto -mall dealerships, including Jim Burke Ford, Nissan of Bakersfield and Bili Wright Toyota, about the deplorable SR 99 landscape conditions and the creation of fire hazards adjacent to their properties as stated in correspondence attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein as Exhibit B; and WHEREAS, these complaints and similar concerns have been referred to Caltrans, which is the agency that is supposed to maintain the landscaping along the state freeways, for immediate and remedial action to address the substandard landscape maintenance along the freeway corridors throughout the City; and WHEREAS, the recent fire is not an isolated incident, and inferior maintenance on the State Highway right-of-way has been the normal; and WHEREAS, Kern County is characterized by litter and poorly maintained freeway landscaping, and the situation has existed for a decade or more; and eF gPK&, r Page 1 of 3 Pages- > m J L OR13;NAL WHEREAS, former Mayor Harvey Hall and current Mayor Karen Goh have been among those that have complained about the unacceptable conditions as evidenced by the correspondence attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein as Exhibit C; and WHEREAS, while some efforts have been made between CalTrans and the City to address the landscaping along the freeways, such as contracts with the City to do litter cleanup in specific areas, the ongoing problems have not been addressed; and WHEREAS, in light of the recent fires and existing fire hazards surrounding the freeways within the City, it is urgent that Caltrans officials meet with the City and our local and state representatives to discuss how our agencies can collaborate on reaching a permanent solution to address the ongoing landscape maintenance issues along the freeway corridors within the City, which include SR 58, SR 99, and SR 178. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Bakersfield as follows: 1. The City Council finds and declares that the foregoing recitals are true and correct and are hereby incorporated fully as a material part of this Resolution and based upon such matters, the City Council makes the additional findings set forth herein below. 2. The City Council finds and declares that it is urgent that the City meet with Caltrans and our local and state representatives to discuss how our agencies can collaborate on reaching a permanent solution to address the ongoing landscape maintenance issues along the freeway corridors within the City, which include SR 58, SR 99, and SR 178. 3. The City Council authorizes the City Manager, or designee, to take all steps as may be necessary and appropriate to reach a permanent solution to address the ongoing freeway landscape maintenance issues in furtherance of and consistent with the purpose (s) of this Resolution. 4. The City Clerk shall attest and certify to the passage and adoption of this Resolution and it shall become effective immediately upon its approval. __________ o gPK�9� Page 2 of 3 Pages - m 0 Ori�G:fvAI I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted by the Counl gfOt2019City of Bakersfield at a regular meeting thereof held on N Z , by the following vote: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ YE' COUNCIL MEMBER RWEkA, GO 2N ALES, WEIR, SMITH, FREEMAN, SULLIVAN, EARLIER NOES: COUNCIL MEMBER Nb�� ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBER NOQSL BSE COUNCIL MEMBER)Vida Y1/1.�14 1 Y�VIIIIA[/VJ JI DRIMAKIS, CMC CITY CLERK and Ex Officio Clerk of the Council of the City of Bakersfield APPROVED JUN 2 0 1019 By ►G�i M y/� ! KAREN GOH Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: VIRGINIA GENNARO City Attorney d �� d SHUA H RUDNICK puty City Attorney JHR:vlg Attachments - Exhibit A, B & C o`�eAKF9N - Page 3 of 3 Pages - > T M v ORiG:1vAl BAKERSFIELD F I R E DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM . FIRE-' . 'E-' i TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Anthony Galagazo, Fire Chief DATE: June 26, 2019 SUBJECT: CorMax Incident The lack of grass/brush clearance along Northbound State Route 99 created an inevitable occurrence of extreme fire behavior, and regrettably the CarMax dealership unjustly suffered the consequences of the existing fire hazard. Due to the fire load of dry grass and brush adjacent to the dealership, created a difficult situation for firefighters to initially contain the blaze due to the rate of spread. The incident could have been averted if the proper amount of clearing had taken place prior to the excessive heat of our summer months in Bakersfield. In addition to the $2.1 million in damage to the vehicles on the lot, the Bakersfield Fire Department )BFD) sustained an exceedingly conservative loss in total personnel and resource expenditures of $2,949.20. More importantly, was the drain on resources throughout the City of Bakersfield that warranted numerous areas of the city to be without coverage. This was the cause for greatly increased response times and limited resources to respond to critical emergencies, since over 10 BFD emergency units and 26 BFD personnel responded to the incident. CarMax 25 -Jun -19 o� gAKF9u, C:\Users\mcruz\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Oudook\TZNOJG95\Carmax Fire labor costs 2019 t: m nP;3:NAL Total Hours Hourly Rafe Total Medicare CalOES NA Gross Salary/Engine E2 0.25 0.25 81.40 20.35 20.35 Captain 0.25 0.25 35.44 8.86 8.86 Engineer 0.25 0.25 29.03 7.26 7.26 Firefighter 0.25 0.25 23.06 5.77 5.77 AP3 2.45 2.45 5.88 14.41 14.41 Captain 2.45 2.45 52.52 128.68 1.87 130.54 E13 2.25 2.25 81.40 183.15 183.15 Captain 2.251 2.25 35.44 1 79.74 79.74 Engineer 2.25 2.25 29.03 65.32 65.32 Firefighter 2.25 2.25 23.06 51.89 51.89 E7 3 3 81.40 244.20 244.20 Captain 3 3 35.44 106.32 106.32 Engineer 3 3 29.03 87.09 87.09 Firefighter 3 3 23.06 69.18 69.18 T7 2 21 81.40 162.80 162.80 Captain 2 2 35.44 70.88 70.88 Engineer 2 2 29.03 58.06 58.06 Engineer 2 2 29.03 58.06 58.06 Firefighter 2 2 23.06 46.12 46.12 B2 4.25 4.25 12 51.00 51.00 BC 4.25 4.25 42.38 180.12 180.12 T15 1.75 1.75 81.40 142.45 142.45 Captain 1.75 1.75 35.44 62.02 62.02 Engineer 1.75 1.75 29.03 50.80 50.80 Engineer 1.75 1.75 29.03 50.80 50.80 Firefighter 1.75 1.75 23.06 40.36 40.36 AP2 0.25 0.25 5.88 1.47 1.47 Captain 0.25 0.25 52.52 13.13 0.19 13.32 Ell 0.25 0.25 81.40 20.35 20.35 Captain 0.25 0.251 35.44 8.86 8.86 Engineer 0.25 0.25 29.03 7.26 7.26 Firefighter 0.25 0.25 23.06 5.77 5.77 E4 5 5 81.40 407.00 407.00 Captain 5 5 35.44 177.20 177.20 Engineer 5 5 29.03 145.15 145.15 Firefi hfer 5 5 23.06 115.30 115.30 Total 75.65 75.65 911.03 2,947.14 2.06 2,949.20 o� gAKF9u, C:\Users\mcruz\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Oudook\TZNOJG95\Carmax Fire labor costs 2019 t: m nP;3:NAL From: Chris farter <chrisparlier@sbcglobal.neU Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2019 12:23 AM To: Alan Tandy Cc: Lauren Skidmore (Smooth); vince.fong@mail.house.gov; Shannon Grove; Karen Goh; Anthony Galagaza; john.liu@dot.ca.gov Subject: Fwd: Fox News: California Carmax lot goes up in flames, dozens of vehicles damaged, destroyed Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Bakersfield. Think before you click! Alan, I have received multiple complaints from auto -mall dealerships about SR99 conditions and hazards adjacent to their properties, with subsequent referrals to Caltrans. Just last week Jim Burke Ford complained about fire hazards at their fence line, along with the Toyota and Nissan dealerships not long before them. It's no secret that our visible freeway corridor conditions are deplorable, compared to other large metropolitan regions. The appearance of freeway blight is also one of the main reasons people have a negative impression of Bakersfield, as they drive through our city. Ironically, when I was traveling this weekend from Newport Beach after attending the CA League of Cities forum. Both my wife and I commented to each other while driving about how much better endless miles of LA/Orange County freeways look, compared to the unkept Caltrans areas/ramps through just Bakersfield. Now this neglect has cost a local business millions of dollars, not to mention the expense to the city/county to fight this dangerous and probably maintenance preventable fire. After Joe Hay's complaint (Jim Burke Ford), I took the picture below, of the east side freeway conditions too, ironically it's close to the CarMax lot. Last month I ran into Lauren Skidmore (Assemblymember Fong's Office) and mentioned that state and local leaders need to get together to address this issue. Can city staff please reach out to our local state representatives to help schedule something with them, to discuss as a group, how this issue can be permanently resolved. Thank you, Chris of gAKF9N J OHIG;NAL I A California Carmax lot goes up in flames, dozens of vehicles damaged, destroyed Rows of used cars went up in flames Monday as a fire ravaged a CarMax lot in Bakersfield, Calif., damaging or destroying 86 vehicles. Read in Fox News:his'//aoolenews/AlTm66hFISTKy ETVjRf71e Shared from Apple News Sent from my iPhone o`` 6AKFhN � T F- Ti J �� G;tvgL From: Karen Goh Sent: Tuesday, lune 25, 2019 3:46 AM To: john.liu@dotca.gov Cc: Chris Parlier, Alan Tandy Subject: Fwd: Fox News: California Carmax lot goes up in flames, dozens of vehicles damaged, destroyed Hello, John, I'm writing to request your leadership in adressing this issue raised by Vice Mayor Chris Pother. This is unacceptable and dangerous. I'm out of the country with a Sister City delegation, but I hope you and Caltrans will rectify this situation in a timely manner. I appreciated your excellent follow up when we discussed the barrage of negative comments from our residents and the urgency of prioritizing the clean up of the freeways in Bakersfield. Thank you for finding the funding allocation. We are similarly counting on you to respond to this pressing issue, John. Thank you, Karen Got ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chris Parlier <chrisparlier@sbcglobal.net> Date: Jun 25, 2019 9:23 AM Subject: Fwd: Fox News: California Carmax lot goes up in flames, dozens of vehicles damaged, destroyed To: Alan Tandy <atandy@bakersfieldcity.us> Ce: "Lauren Skidmore (Smooth)" <Lauren.skidmore@asm.ca.gov>,vince.fong@mail.house.gov,Shannon Grove <sgrove@clsri.com>,Karen Goh<kgoh@bakersfieldcity.us>,Anthony Galagaza <agalagaz@bakersfieldfire.us>john.liu@dot.ca.gov Wareing: This email originated from outside the City of Bakersfield. Think before you click! Alan, I have received multiple complaints from auto -mall dealerships about SR99 conditions and hazards adjacent to their properties, with subsequent referrals to Caltrans. Just last week Jim Burke Ford complained about fire hazards at their fence line, along with the Toyota and Nissan dealerships not long before them. It's no secret that our visible freeway corridor conditions are deplorable, compared to other large metropolitan regions. The appearance of freeway blight is also one of the main reasons people have a negative impression of Bakersfield, as they drive through our city. Ironically, when I was traveling this weekend from Newport Beach after attending the CA League of Cities forum. Both my wife and I commented to each other while driving about how much better endless v BAK 9N J OgIG NAL miles of LA/Orange County freeways look, compared to the unkept Caltrans areas/ramps through just Bakersfield. Now this neglect has cost a local business millions of dollars, not to mention the expense to the city/county to fight this dangerous and probably maintenance preventable fire. After Joe Hay's complaint (Jim Burke Ford), I took the picture below, of the east side freeway conditions too, ironically it's close to the CarMax lot. Last month I ran into Lauren Skidmore (Assemblymember Fong's Office) and mentioned that state and j local leaders need to get together to address this issue. Can city staff please reach out to our local state representatives to help schedule something with them, to discuss as a group, how this issue can be permanently resolved. Thank you, Chris c� 9AKF,9N T m JORI ;,NAI California Carmax lot goes up in flames, dozens of vehicles damaged, destroyed Rows of used cars went up in flames Monday as a fire ravaged a CarMax lot in Bakersfield, Calif, damaging or destroying 86 vehicles. Read in Fox News: httos,//annle.news/AlTm66hFISTKV ETViRfJlg Shared from Apple News Sent from my Whone o`� BAKF9N ? T T V r ORIG�NAL